Dae Inseon (r. 906–926) was the last king of

Balhae Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It ...

, a kingdom in northeast

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

occupying parts of

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

, northern

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

, and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

. Dae Inseon was also the last king of Balhae. He and his armies were pushed back and eventually defeated by the Khitan.

Last years of Balhae

This was a time of momentous change for Balhae and its neighbors. In the case of

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms o ...

, the nobility increasingly became independent and rebellions sprang up throughout the country. Meanwhile, in China, the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

faced serious crises caused by the

An Lushan Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general off ...

and many other uprisings. Finally, Zhu Wen established the Later Liang, marking the end of the Tang dynasty in 907. Dae concentrated on increasing defense capabilities against the threat of new powers and was in favor of allying with the

Goryeo Dynasty Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

. However, the interference of the nobility did not allow that to happen. The Khitans' growing power in

was the most threatening to Balhae. Eventually, they invaded Balhae in 925 and the capital Sanggyeong (also known as Holhan fortress) fell after ten days. In 926, Balhae came to an end, some of the nobles were moved to the Khitan proper by the Liao Dynasty, while many of its populace including many of the nobility fled to Goryeo.

Aftermath

The Khitans established the Dongdan Kingdom on the former territories of Balhae, which was ruled by crown prince Yelü Bei. The Balhae royal family was allowed to share control of the former Balhae territories with Liao aristocrats because of the political chaos and lack of a strong administration following Balhae's fall. Dae Inseon likely served in high positions during Yelü Bei's rule and possibly shared power with the latter. Dae Inseon's son and the last Crown Prince of Balhae, Dae Gwang-Hyeon, gathered an army and continued to spearhead resistance against the Liao. Many members of the Dae Clan lead Later Balhae and refused to submit to the Liao as Dae Inseon had. In 937, Dae Gwang-Hyeon led tens of thousands of Balhae refugees and fled to Goryeo, where he was warmly received by

Wang Geon Taejo of Goryeo (31 January 877 – 4 July 943), also known as Taejo Wang Geon (; ), was the founder of the Goryeo dynasty, which ruled Korea from the 10th to the 14th century. Taejo ruled from 918 to 943, achieving unification of the Later Thre ...

, the founder of the Goryeo Dynasty, which is seen by Korean historians as having brought the unification of the two successor states of

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

References

Balhae rulers 10th-century rulers in Asia {{Korea-bio-stub

Last years of Balhae

Aftermath

See also

References